While quarterback and running backs tend to garner instant attention from recruiters, finding safeties who are willing to hit can be hard to find. Finding one with a 4.6 grade-point average (on a 5.0 scale) who can also run a 4.5 in the 40-yard dash are even tougher. For that reason alone, Centennial (Colo.) Xavier Lewissafety finds himself getting calls from college football coaches.

"The big thing is I love to hit," Lewis said when asked what he loved about playing safety. "That is one thing, the way I position my body when I am going up for a tackle, I can be a physical safety. I love the ability to see the whole field. You really get to see what is going on. In a sense, I can put the pressure on myself that I am not going to let anyone get past me for a touchdown and put that pressure on myself is something I like to do."

When you see a player from a 2-8 high school team picking up scholarship offers to play football, there is an understanding the player is something special. The University of Wyoming has seen enough to offer the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Lewis a scholarship.

"(Wyoming) has offered and they told me that I am their guy and they like my physical play at safety," Lewis said. "They are one of my top colleges and the fact they have offered a scholarship puts them high up there. I like their program and the direction it is headed. I like their head coach (Dave Christensen) and I really like the change he is bringing to Wyoming. They are bringing back that winning tradition there. I like the way he thinks too."

Lewis said he took an unofficial visit to Laramie recently and said he liked what he saw.

"I liked it," Lewis said of his visit. "They have a really nice indoor facility. I have been on a couple other college visits and it ranks up there with facilities. I got to meet a couple of their players and it seems like their heads are in the right spot. I felt like if I went there I would be a part of the family, so that is a good place for me."

The latest offer came to Lewis from Colorado Springs and the Air Force Falcons. The Eaglecrest hitman said committing to Air Force would result in a vastly different life moving forward and one that he didn't think was all bad.

"It is a very different situation," Lewis said. "I would be going into the military and I would have to do my commitment after my four years. But for job security and opportunity, it is off the charts. For me, I want to be a mechanical engineer. What I am weighing is if I want to be in the military or if I want to go a different route."

Lewis said he has been to an Air Force game and likes the way they play. He said he will visit the Air Force Academy this season to get a better look at life at the Air Force. Lewis said he also plans to visit Duke this fall, which has been showing more and more interest.

"Duke is the closest to offering," Lewis said. "They told me I am one of their top guys at safety and they want to see some of my games my senior year and then they will decide if they will offer."

Lewis said he has also been in contact with Stanford and Colorado, who are waiting to hear what their top tier recruits will do before offering Lewis a scholarship.

"I haven't made a timeline for my decision," Lewis said. "I just want to feel comfortable with my decision. I want to be comfortable with the academics, the athletics and I want to make sure it is the right fit for me and the team as well. When I am comfortable with my decision, that is when I will commit."

Last season Lewis was named First Team All-Conference on a Eaglecrest team that finished the year just 2-8. Along the way he managed 90 tackles and one interception. This season, he said he is looking for bigger things from the Eaglecrest squad which opens play next Saturday against Denver East.

"It wasn't a great year because we had a lot of individualism and people who tried to do things for themselves," Lewis said. "We have gotten rid of that element, we are coming together as a team and we are coming together as a team. I think we are going to make big improvements this year."